The SolarQuotes team was pumped to recently achieve another significant milestone in their mission to help Australians slash their power bills with high quality solar installations.
Founded by chartered electrical engineer Finn Peacock to remove the risk from buying solar panels in Australia, more than 600,000 requests for quotes have been processed by SolarQuotes since the service kicked off in 2009. This is equivalent to around 1 in 15 Australian households.
The company’s purpose is simple:
“To help Australians buy quality solar and batteries from installers who care.”
What’s not so simple are the behind-the-scenes processes involved to help ensure this happens. These include rigorous checks of solar installers wanting to join the network and ongoing monitoring of businesses accepted; processes that have been continually refined over 13 years.
The SolarQuotes website has Australia’s biggest solar installer reviews database, currently listing 2,497 businesses across Australia – and 514 of those are part of the SQ network at the time of writing.
The “Grandmother Rule” – An Enduring Value
Among the company’s core values is the “Grandmother Rule”, which is also very simple.
“The rule is – if I wouldn’t recommend a solar installer to my grandmother, I won’t recommend them through SolarQuotes,” says Finn.
… and yes, Finn really likes his grandma.
Worry-Free Solar – Guaranteed
As in any trade or business sector, there are great, good, fair and bad operators in the rooftop solar game. Horror stories of grossly overpriced systems, super-cheap systems with poor quality components, shoddy installation and shonky business practices may have discouraged some Australian households from installing panels, locking them into ongoing high electricity bills that could otherwise be avoided.
To provide additional assurance to the hesitant, Finn launched the SolarQuotes Good Installer Guarantee in November last year. This is a formal guarantee on the quality of every SolarQuotes-referred installation, demonstrating the confidence Finn has in his vetting process and network of installers.
“In the unlikely event a customer believes their system has not been installed to the specification promised, we’ll work with the customer and the installer to ensure it is,” states Finn. “In the even more unlikely event the promised installation still isn’t delivered, SolarQuotes will arrange for any remedial work to be performed by another pre-vetted solar professional – paid for from our own pocket, not the customer’s.”
The Go-To Resource For All Things Solar
As well as facilitating quotes for solar power and battery systems, the SolarQuotes website (and team) have continued to grow. The website provides well over a million visitors each year with valuable information delivered in an easy-to-understand format, a wide variety of tools, current news and fearless reviews on the Australian and international scene.
“As solar energy and related sectors such as home battery storage and the electric vehicle revolution on our doorstep evolve, we’re evolving with it,” says Finn. “We’re humbled by the trust so many Australian households put in us and something that won’t ever change is my original vision – connecting Australians to the best products and services for their circumstances, provided by the best in the industry.”
About Michael Bloch
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First off, kudos for the milestone. That being said, how does quotes translate to sale decisions?
In my case for instance 2 of the 3 quotes were from well out of zone – probably a 2 or 3 hour trip each way, so the quotes were just given via phone and email based on average systems for the average buyer. A third (closer) company did come out of site to have a look, provided a lot of info, and had a potentially good albeit uncommon product. Ultimately however it was a 4th company that was listed on SQ, closer, and who actually crawled around the roof before giving any recommendations – like how many panels we could actually fit, and what angles these would be, that proved most attractive.
SQ provided the info, but technically it wasn’t the SQ quote option that connected us.
Perhaps that means more than 600,000 sales if folk are using SQ as a database and making their own company to install decisions rather than simply relying on random quotes?
Twice now I have been through the SolarQuotes process with satisfaction and confidence. I am about to move again and will definitely rely on Finn Peacock and his team.